From the Command Sergeant Major

At the last Command Sergeant Major Conference I attended, one of the command sergeants major spoke about the conditions of some of the USAR centers. He also provided pictures to support his findings.

Broken equipment piled up, garbage along fence lines in view of the public, kitchens that even a bug wouldn’t want to eat in, work spaces and desks filled with clutter and a bunch of other issues which are not consistent with our Army Values and our way of life.

I was relieved that none of these reserve centers belonged to the 108th Training Command or any of our subordinate units, but the bottom line is we are all responsible to ensure every Soldier and every piece of equipment that belongs to the U.S. Army is well maintained and completely operational no matter what unit they belong to or what patch they wear on their shoulder. That is a big part of readiness and every one of our jobs and responsibilities.

We need to take pride in our reserve centers and display them in such a way that when the public sees it or elected officials visit them, they can be proud of us and say ‘“There really is something special about a Soldier.”

We need to take pride in our reserve centers and display them in such a way that when the public sees it or elected officials visit them, they can be proud of us and say ‘There really is something special about a Soldier’.

Each of us know, and for as long as we can remember, the Army has required us to leave things better than the way we found them. It appears we have gotten away from that. Police call, maintenance of our facilities and areas of responsibility and keeping our areas looking good are part of a Soldiers daily routine.

We need to take pride in keeping our reserve centers not just looking good but an example of how the Army lives. We should be just as proud of our facilities as we are every time we put on our uniform because together they represent the strength of the greatest Army on the face of the earth.

Let’s start getting back to the basics and doing what we know is right.

Another thing that’s part of a Soldier’s daily routine is physical fitness training. Too often I hear Soldiers say “when I came in I could do this amount of push-ups and run two-miles in half of what I can do it now. Well that’s because we allowed ourselves to ‘slack off’.

There’s an excuse for everything. It’s not that difficult to stay in shape. It takes commitment. Lose the excuses! And as long as I am on the subject of excuses, many of our lower enlisted Soldiers and NCOs need to stop putting off going to required courses.

I know there are Soldiers that couldn’t go to school because of the budgetary constraints, but that was a small fraction of why Soldiers weren’t attending schools. The APFT and HT/WT were also part of the reasons Soldiers haven’t attended their required education.

With the Army facing potential downsizing, it’s important that we do everything possible to ensure we don’t find ourselves in a career ending category. I personally guarantee you that every Soldier who has completed their schooling, passed their APFT, HT/WT and does their job will not have to worry if and when the Army begins to downsize.

Let’s do a better job of looking out for our battle buddies and making sure none of us ever allow obstacles to get in the way of our readiness.